Lula, the world leader who stands up to Trump

São PauloThere is no turning back. From the On August 6, a 50% tariff will be applied to all Brazilian imports into the United States.Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday implementing an additional 40% tariff (in addition to the 10% general tax he had already implemented in April) in Brazil, with the aim of addressing "recent policies, practices and actions by the Government of Brazil that constitute an unusual and extraneous threat," according to a statement issued by the White House.

The measure, however, provides for a long list of up to seven hundred exceptions, including energy products, petroleum, vehicles and parts, civil aircraft, and orange juice.

He tariff, as the South American giant is known, has a double uniqueness: Trump intends to apply it despite the Yankee trade surplus between the two countries, maintained uninterruptedly since 2009 and amounting to more than $400 billion over fifteen years; and, secondly, he has used political and ideological arguments, a blackmailing and intimidation tactic to interfere in Brazilian internal affairs.

Trump's tariff offensive, which could end up generating a trade war between the two most populous countries on the continent, is based on the alleged "witch hunt" against his ally, Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing the final stretch of the trial for attempted coup d'état, where everything points to the fact that, before the end of the year, will be sentenced to a long prison term. He tariff It would be a consequence of the pressure exerted by the former president's son, federal representative Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has been in the United States since March and who will most likely be tried for coercion if he decides to return to his country.

Lula da Silva has remained energetic in the face of the tariff threat. He did not play into Trump's hands and stood up to him from day one, when, in an inflamed speech, he said a phrase that became a slogan and had a great impact both domestically and internationally: "It will not be a gringo who will give orders to this President of the Republic."

With his popularity low, and cornered by another blackmail (the one imposed on him by the Centrão deputies, the parties that hold the majority in Congress), the veteran leader got his diagnosis right: he took advantage of the clash with Trump to close ranks against sanctions that will have a major impact on the local economy and snatched national sovereignty from the patriarch.

He tariff It's interpreted as a matter of Brazilian domestic politics due to Trump's explicit support for Bolsonaro. Therefore, Lula, despite having initiated negotiations with Washington without much success, has treated the two extremists with the same tone and without backing down an inch.

Since the crisis erupted, there has been no contact between the two presidents, and there likely won't be for months, after Brazilian diplomats warned that Trump wanted to publicly humiliate Lula, as he did with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in February.

Trump feels empathy for Bolsonaro, who copied Trump's radical strategy to come to power in Brazil two years later and who, when he lost the elections for the next term, even He copied the invasion of the Capitol with the assault on the headquarters of the three powers in Brasilia on January 8, 2023.. Both share problems with their country's justice system. Now he puts the interests of the Bolsonaro family before those of the Brazilian economy, regardless of the fact that some of the sectors most affected by the tariff be the large producers of coffee and animal protein (two sectors that finance the far right and the Bolsonaro coup plot) and the steel industry.

Pix, the enemy of Silicon Valley

In reality, Bolsonaro's legal vicissitudes are a pretext. Trump, who has no special personal or political interest in Brazil (it represents 1.3% of US imports), wants to pressure one of the founding members of the BRICS, governed by a defender of multilateralism like Lula da Silva, and where the big techs from their country are under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court and have emerged an unbeatable local competitor in payment systems.

In parallel with the threat of tariffThe Trump administration has opened a trade investigation, the most aggressive tool in the federal government's trade policy, which could lead to new sanctions. In the spotlight is Pix, the Brazilian Central Bank's free, instant electronic payment system, which is allegedly harming Meta (in 2020, it attempted to implement a similar method, WhatsApp Pay, which the Brazilian government did not approve), Google Pay, Apple Pay, and PayPal. This system, used by 75% of Brazilians, reached 175 million users in May and represents 47% of all transactions in the country (excluding cash). It has been key to banking the poorest population, coinciding with the rise of digital and fee-free banks.

The Republican administration is also watching with concern as the Brazilian Supreme Court, which is judging Bolsonaro, orders the removal of social media accounts belonging to extremists who have fled and now reside in the United States. Last year, it imposed a ban on X, which stopped operating nationwide for 38 days.

Trump denounces that there is "censorship" in Brazil and believes that an environment contrary to the interests of the big techs Yankees. The US government's offensive is on all fronts and they have already revoked the visa to enter the country of Alejandro de Moraes, the judge leading the investigations into Bolsonaro and the big techsThis Wednesday, in parallel with the announcement of the entry into force of the tariffThe White House sanctioned the judge under the Magnitsky Act, known as the "financial death penalty," a measure for foreigners designed to punish dictators who are enemies of the United States and accused of serious human rights violations. In a statement, Lula called the measure "unacceptable" and warned: "In Brazil, the law applies to all citizens and all companies. Any activity that affects the lives of the population and Brazilian democracy is subject to regulations. It's no different for digital platforms."